The Life Plate Legion
by SilverWolf742
Summary: The interdimensional division between the world of Pokemon and our own is weakening. A teenage boy finds himself caught up in a battle against forces he never knew existed as he and the Pokemon trainers he meets fight to prevent the destruction of both worlds.
1. Okamoto's Comics & Games

Okamoto Comics & Games was a nondescript corner store in New Haven, Connecticut. The lettering was in an Asian style font typical of a Chinese restaurant, the once scarlet coloring now faded and chipped by the ravages of sun, rain, and wind. It was a small store, seeming all the more cramped by a neighboring pastry shop nearly three times its size. Undoubtedly the pastry shop siphoned off most of the foot traffic that would otherwise walk past the humble comic store, which mostly went unnoticed by passerby. When asked about it, people usually shrug and have nothing in particular to say other than it had been there as long as they could remember, but when it had come into existence no one seemed to know. So why Aden Pace felt compelled to take a look inside on his walk home from James Hillhouse High, he couldn't explain. At the time, he chalked it up to boredom.

A bell tinkled as he pushed the door open, announcing his presence. Aden took in the tight space, the walls covered by shelves of worn and new comics, card game packs, and glass displays containing figurines of superheroes and the rarer individual comics and cards. Tiny as it was, it had a certain character to it that Aden liked. He wondered why he had never entered the store before as he thumbed through old Green Lantern comics, absently flipping through an issue when a cover caught his eye.

"Can I help you with anything?" Mildly taken by surprise, Aden's head lifted as he turned to voice, which had come from the back corner of the store. Behind a worn blue countertop stood a short, balding Asian man with a graying pencil thin mustache. A thin smile lit up his round face, accenting the prominent apples of his cheeks. His voice was light and mildly accented. As he seemed to be the only other person present, the boy assumed he was the namesake of Okamoto comics. A shorthaired white cat was lying splayed across the counter, the tip of its tail twitching absently. Aden's attention was immediately drawn to its eyes, one of which was gooseberry green, the other a startling blue. The cat stared at him, unblinking. Aden smiled slightly at the man in return.

"I'm just looking," he said, indicating the comic in his hands. "Thanks though," he added quickly. The man seemed so eager to help that he almost felt bad he didn't need anything in particular. He wondered briefly how many customers the store received on a daily basis. He guessed that it probably wasn't many. Jake wandered deeper into the store, his eyes scanning the rows of Magic cards on the far wall. He looked briefly to his right. The man who Aden presumed was Okamoto was looking at him with interest, the same pleasant smile on his face, but when Aden looked at the man directly, he averted his eyes, occupying his hands with something behind the counter. The cat had not moved, but its head had turned toward him to follow his movement. Other than the twitching tail, it was still as a statue, with its unusual eyes still trained on him. _Mildly creepy_, he thought, and resumed looking at the wall.

"You know, today is free card day. Would you like a card?" The man announced, breaking the silence that had fallen.

"Um…sure why not? What kind of card?" He walked toward the owner as the Asian man continued to rustle things behind the counter.

"Pokémon," he replied. Aden's lips twisted up at one corner slightly. He had not played with Pokémon cards for years, but he remembered all the effort he spent collecting them as eager eight year old. Trading them with classmates were among some of his more fond memories of his elementary school days. Hard to believe that was almost ten years ago. He wondered what had happened to his collection. Had he thrown them out? _Not likely_, he thought. He had been fairly attached to them as a child. They were probably gathering dust in the recesses of his attic somewhere.

He stood awkwardly at the counter as the store owner rustled around. The cat broke its staring contest with Aden for an instant to shoot the small man what appeared to be a perfect expression of irritation, as if annoyed with his fumbling.

"Are you having trouble?" Aden asked. Okamoto shook his head, then finally pulled a single blue backed card from underneath the desk.

"Ah, here we are," he said, the pleasant smile back on his face. He handed Aden the card. Before he could look at it, the sudden movement of the cat's head caught his attention. The animal looked at the man with what appeared to be urgency. The owner stared back, his face going momentarily blank. Slightly perplexed, Aden put the card in the back pocket of his jeans and hitched his backpack higher onto his shoulders. _Alright…I think this might be a good time to go. _He was suddenly eager to leave the deserted store and its slightly odd owner. Not wanting to interrupt whatever moment the old man was having with his pet, Aden mumbled "Thank-you, sir," and started to turn around. His words seemed to snap Okamoto out of his trance, since his eyes snapped up. The cat's eyes again locked onto the blonde haired youth with renewed interest.

"Wait," he said. "Could you spare a moment?" Aden paused. "I received a new shipment of comics today, but my shelves are full at the moment. Would you mind helping an old man? The box needs to go to the cellar for now, and the stairs are hard on my knees." Aden was momentarily distracted by the cat's eyes before he answered. He wished it would stop staring at him like that.

"Oh…sure. No problem," he said. He supposed he couldn't refuse without feeling like a terrible person. He was probably the first and only customer Okamoto would have all day. The man's face lit up, his smile making the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes deepen.

"Thank you, young man. Please, come around." He motioned for Aden behind the counter. A sizable box sat on the floor. Aden squatted down and took it in his arms. The box was fairly heavy; he wondered what the man would have done on his own.

"This way," he said, waving to him. He left the counter and took quick, shuffling steps toward the entrance of the shop. The cat leaped off the counter to follow at his heels, its tail held high. Aden walked behind until he came to the narrow stairwell. A flight of uneven wooden steps led down to the cellar, the bottom of which he couldn't see, obscured as it was by inky darkness.

"Careful now, the bulb burnt out. I haven't had a chance to replace it." Aden started down, pausing when a particularly slanted step groaned in protest. Paying close attention to his feet, he didn't bother to look up as he addressed the store owner.

"Where do you want—" The forceful shove against his upper back pitched Aden forward. He cried out briefly, the box tumbling from his arms as he fell. The world spun on its axis as he flipped head over heels. He caught a quick glimpse of a cat standing at the top of stairs. Its fur was pink, a two pronged tail waving high over its head. Intense eyes, one blue, the other green, stared back at him. Before his brain could even process what he had seen, his head smacked against the edge of a step, and he sensed no more.


	2. Lost

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Aden groaned and ran his hand across the tender spot at the back of his head that was quickly developing into a sizable lump. The darkness around him faded to shades of gray as his eyes adapted to the weak light. Momentary panic gripped him as he took in the quiet forest around him. It was definitely typical deciduous forest, but it had a wilder feel to it. The tall oaks and ghostly white silhouettes of birches yawned into the patchy moonlight. The shrubbery grew untamed; the nearly naked trees were densely packed had achieved sizes that indicated this was a place long undisturbed by man. This was no hiking trail. There was no path, no markers. Just forest as far as the eye could see.

_Where the hell am I?_ _How did I get here? _His mind was foggy. The last thing he remembered was walking home. Had he been mugged? Thrown in the woods and left to die? Considering New Haven's crime rate, it wouldn't be surprising. But there were no forests…especially not like this, for miles around. Whatever had happened, his attacker (perhaps attackers?), had gone through a lot of trouble to get him here. Why move him at all? Why not just knock him out and leave him in the street? He tried to force back the wave of panic that threatened to grip him again. Aden was used to cities; he understood them, navigated them with ease. Here? He was entirely out of his element. And he wasn't alone in this place. The underbrush rustled with movement, branches shook over his head, and the chattering of animals of insects were a constant murmur in the background. It was teeming with life, with animals that he couldn't see. Were there bears in these woods? He shuddered. _Get a grip, _he told himself._ Sitting here isn't going to get you anywhere. _Resolving to get moving, and away from the bloodthirsty bears he was conjuring up in his mind, he moved to brush the leaves from his unruly hair. He paused as he became aware of a small object in his back pocket.

He reached into his jeans and pulled out a golf ball sized sphere. Aden placed it between his thumb and forefinger and lifted it to the dark sky. It gave off a metallic sheen in the moonlight, highlighting the muted scarlet top and white bottom, with a silver button bisecting the two halves. His mouth dropped open as the realization hit him. _A Poké Ball? _ In utter disbelief, his grip faltered and the ball slipped from his hand, crackling among the dry, fallen leaves. He swooped to pick it up, peering at it closely. Even with the rational part of his mind screaming in protest, all those hours of watching Pokémon anime as a kid couldn't have steered him wrong. It couldn't be anything else. But seeing what appeared to be an actual Poké Ball in his hands was jarring. Not a drawing, not an animated cartoon, but a fully three dimensional metal ball sitting in his palm. _It's warm, _he noted with surprise. Too warm considering the sharpness of the fall air. He closed his worn leather jacket tighter around himself as he became aware of the temperature. He stood and started walking in a random direction, still rolling the ball in his hand. Rubbing the lump again, he chastised himself for his stupidity. _I must have been hit harder than I thought. _It couldn't be a Poké Ball. What was he thinking? It was stupid, childish even. It was a toy, albeit a realistic one. But where had he gotten…_Aha!_ He snapped his fingers as the memory came back.

_Okamoto Comics & Games_, _that's where I got a…Pok_é_ Ball? _No, that didn't sound right. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to clear the fuzziness in his head. A card! That was it. _I got a Pokémon card and then…_suddenly the memory flashed back. The box flying from his hands, the dark cellar, that damn creepy cat. _And then I got pushed down the stairs and robbed by an old man. _He groaned inwardly, and rubbed his head again, now fully aware of where the lump had come from. _Really, Aden? That's the last time you do anyone a favor. _But still, the man was so unassuming that Aden had a hard time believing that he had meant him harm. And why? Aden knew the man's name, for God's sake. Did he really think he would get away with this? Then again...that could explain why he got dumped god knows where. Struck by a sudden thought, he stopped walking and crouched by the base of a tree at least five times wider than himself. Aden still had his backpack, and he paused to rifle through it. Aden pulled out his wallet. _Hmmm…this doesn't make sense. _Not only did he still have his wallet, with all his money, credit cards, and driver's license intact, but he also had his iPod, and his cell phone and anything else of value he had on him. _My phone! _Why didn't he think of it before? The screen blazed to life, momentarily blinding him. _Shit…no bars. Well, it was worth a try anyway. _He noted that the time read 3:30pm. _Impossible. _Not only did it seem to be the middle of the night, but Aden knew he entered the store at around 3:00. It would have taken Okamoto a substantial amount of time to get him anywhere this remote. He turned it off. Conserving the battery was probably a good idea; he could check for service again later.

He shouldered the backpack again, more confused than before, and continued walking though to where, he had no idea. He could barely see a few feet in front of him, but he kept moving. What did he know? One, he was definitely pushed down the stairs. No way he imagined that, and his throbbing head bore the physical evidence. Two, he wasn't robbed. Everything he came into the comic store with, he currently had. _Well, except for this_, he thought, _glancing at the Pok_é_ ball _toy in his hand. Was this some sick joke? _Here's a free toy, no charge. Something to remember me by as you die of dehydration…or get mauled by a bear. _Disgusted, he contemplated throwing the ball into the brush in frustration, but decided otherwise. _If I get out of here, there could be fingerprints on this_. He needed some kind of evidence to show to the police. He stuffed the ball in his bag. Three, at least several hours have passed, regardless of what his phone said. It was dark, and unless he had teleported several time zones away or there was a solar eclipse he didn't know about, it sure as hell wasn't 3:30. Four…there wasn't a four. That was all he knew. Why and how he got left here, where he was, how he would get out…_if he got out_…these questions remained unanswered.

The loud snap of a branch nearby caused Aden to nearly jump out of skin. He walked faster. The fact that he didn't know what, or who, was out here and the fact that he was hopelessly lost was beginning to grate on him. He took a deep breath. _Calm down…just calm down. _He rationalized that bumbling around in the dark wasn't going to help. When the sun came up, he'd have more luck…hopefully. _Find a place to stop and sleep. _He chuckled at the absurdity of his situation. The forest all looked the same to him, and he had no idea how to look for or construct a shelter, so did it really matter where he slept? Nonetheless, he imagined sleeping on top of tree roots wouldn't be too comfortable, so if he could find another patch of leaf litter, that would have to do.

After ten more minutes of wandering, moonlight illuminated a small, grassy clearing ahead, five meters across at most. Small, but just enough space for Aden to stretch out to his full length and attempt to sleep. _Perfect_. He hastened toward it, but just prior to the clearing he ran headfirst into a pliable net that barred his way. Aden stepped back, only to find that he couldn't. The meshwork net, whose strings were practically transparent, adhered to his clothing and skin, holding him in place. _What the hell? _He tried to turn, but stopped as the strings adhering to his face pulled the skin taut. He flailed his arms, trying to break the sticky cords, but to no avail. The net, which appeared to be stretched between two trees that flanked an opening into the clearing, vibrated from his efforts. It bent and stretched, but neither broke nor disengaged itself from his body. He paused, gasping for breath. Maybe his theory about this forest being undisturbed was wrong. Clearly _someone _set this up, though he'd never seen an animal trap like this before, short of the sticky traps that he laid down at home for mice. He couldn't imagine what the purpose of this was though. What were they trying to trap? Bears? Would this even hold a bear? He flailed again; the strings stuck fast. _Well…maybe it would._

The net vibrated. Aden's breath caught in his throat. He had stopped moving a few moments ago. _Maybe it was the wind. _His thought was answered by a more violent vibration, seemingly coming from somewhere above him. _No, not the wind. _He looked upwards, straining his eyeballs in their sockets, but couldn't see much without the ability to lift his head up. Another vibration, this one to his right. The vibration above him got stronger. A soft clicking reached his ears, like silverware on a dinner plate. A cold sweat broke out along his skin. There was something on the net, and it wasn't human. The clicking got louder, until the darkness deepened slightly overhead. Then, into his field a vision, a segmented leg, as wide as one of his own, appeared. It tapered to a point, and several short stiff hairs grew from the hard skin. The leg had a banded pattern, alternating between a light and a dark color, though it was difficult to distinguish colors in the darkness.

The pieces fell into place all at once. This wasn't a net. It was a web. Another banded leg came into his view, followed by something Aden could have done without seeing. He stared into the face of a four foot long spider, where two bone white fangs repeatedly tapped against each other, clicking, like knives on a plate. Giant spider, he realized with horror. Oh this was worse than bears. Much worse. He tried to avert his gaze from the mouthparts, but the two black, beady eyes of the creature's face, with an almost comical horn in between them wasn't much better. _Ok I stand corrected, unicorn giant spider_. A string of saliva dripped from one of the fangs, landing on the arm of his jacket. The material sizzled. He felt a leg graze his hip from the right. He jerked violently at the touch. _And there's more than one. _He didn't question how these animals existed, and at the time, he didn't care. He just closed his eyes, trying to shut out the god awful clicking of their mandibles. And then he did what anyone would naturally do in his situation. He screamed.


	3. Realization

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"Charizard, use flamethrower! Now!" The voice, male, came seemingly from out of nowhere.

Aden was suddenly overwhelmed by light and intense heat. The spider above him screeched, a high pitched wailing noise that made him want to clap his hands over his ears had he been able to move them. Suddenly the web gave and he hit the ground, landing hard on his elbows. The spider dropped from the web in a blaze of glory, fire blackening its exoskeleton. It skittered haphazardly on its four pointed legs in random directions, screeching as the fire consumed its body. Numb to what was happening, Aden crawled away from the creature, attempting to tear the vestiges of the sticky webbing from his face and body. The second spider dropped from the charred and blackened web. This one, unfortunately, was not on fire, and in the light cast by the blazing insect Aden saw the spider in full as it advanced on him. It was blood red, with bright yellow legs interspersed with bands of purple. What appeared to be two stunted legs jutted from its back. The white horn on its forehead looked deadly sharp, but it was those clicking mouthparts that drew his attention. It skittered to him with disconcerting speed and Aden cried out again. _I don't want to die. I don't want to die. _

The spider loomed over him. Aden shielded his face with his arms. The spider screamed. He opened his eyes as the heat of the second spider's burning body reached him. He crawled away from it as it went into convulsions. He didn't know what was happening. He didn't care. He just had to get away. Aden forced himself to his feet; his legs felt unsteady from his panic. He ran toward the clearing as the moonlight illuminated a twenty five foot long sinuous lizard from the gloom with two large leathery wings folded at its sides. The dragon looked at him keenly, its mouth gaped slightly to reveal long pointed fangs. _A dragon?! _His mind screamed. Nothing made sense. He was in a horrible, horrible nightmare. It was the only logical explanation. He shifted directions, careening into the darkness. He doubted he could outrun a dragon. Did dragons even run? His mind laughed at impossibility of it all.

"Stop! Please!" The female voice gave him pause. Panting, he looked over his shoulder to see a teenage girl who appeared to be about his age, maybe seventeen or so. She wore faded blue jeans and a pink zip up hoodie. She was lean, with a heart shaped face and expressive eyes. Her dark straight hair came to her shoulders, with choppy bangs overlaying her forehead. She was certainly pretty, he thought briefly, but the thought was short lived. There was a goddamn dragon somewhere nearby, and he had no idea where this girl had come from, but she had better start running too.

He looked at her incredulously. "I don't know if you noticed, but there's a dragon somewhere that way, and I almost just got devoured by spiders from hell. Pretty sure the things that will get me killed are back _there_." He gestured back toward the way he came. "So if you'll excuse me—"

The expression on her face was deadly serious. "If you go any farther, you will die. Trust me, there are much worse things in this forest than a few Ariados, as nasty as they are. And for your information, that dragon and its trainer just saved your life."

_Ariados? _The name rang a bell. The cartoon image of the Pokémon card came to the forefront of his mind. Now that he thought of it, the card did resemble the spiders, in a simplistic sort of way. The colors matched, the four legs, the horn. But the card didn't look like something out of his worst nightmares. '_Charizard, use flamethrower!' _the voice had said. Too panicked at the time, Aden hadn't thought much of the voice, nor the reason the spiders—Ariados—he supposed, had spontaneously combusted. He put a hand to his head. This place…Pokémon were _real _here. Disturbingly real and very dangerous. _No. I'm delusional. _But he didn't buy into it completely. No dream felt like this. The crisp air in his lungs, the fatigue in his limbs, the very solid looking person in front of him. His imagination was fairly good, but it wasn't _this _good. He couldn't imagine having the mental capacity to create a dream that had this much detail.

"This can't be happening. Pokémon aren't real. They're just a game…just a kid's game," he said to no one in particular.

"Aha! So they _do _know about Pokémon. Told you, Brock." A teenage boy emerged from the shadows. His straight black hair fell to his ears in disarray, shoved underneath a white and red baseball cap. The voice matched the one that had commanded the Charizard. Aden scrutinized the face, hair, and clothing. _Ash? _If he stretched it, the core features resembled the anime character. The hat was the dead giveaway. But the Ash that stood before him was no character, and he certainly wasn't ten years old. Not only was he older, but he looked like he'd been through the wringer. His dark eyes were playful, but there was a hint of solemnity to them. The light caught a thin four inch scar that ran diagonally across his left cheekbone.

"Fine, point conceded. But not in the way we know them. Didn't you hear him? He said Pokémon were a game. They're fictional where he's from." The deeper voice belonged to a tall African-American with short cropped hair and a short sleeved T-shirt stretched over a well muscled frame. He stepped out of the gloom with another girl, this one with startling orange hair bound up in a high ponytail. She was dressed similarly to the first girl, with jeans and a sweatshirt, but her face was longer and more angular. Her almond eyes, whose light color was indiscernible in the weak light, were bright and mischievous. She rolled her eyes at her companions and then approached him, smiling as she extended her hand.

"I'm Misty. Don't mind Ash and Brock, they're too busy arguing most of the time." Aden shook her hand. She had a surprisingly firm grip. Misty, Ash, and Brock? He immediately connected them to their cartoon likenesses. This was too much. But again, the more he looked at the people before him, the more sense it made.

"Aden," he replied. Misty gave him a quick once over.

"So you're the one he chose? Well, you're cute at least." _He? Who's he? _She reached up to ruffle his dirty blonde hair. Aden flushed slightly, taken aback by her forwardness. _Not shy, that's for sure_.

"Oh come on, Misty, give it a rest," Ash teased. She stuck her tongue out at him. Aden couldn't help but laugh at the childish gesture.

"At least I introduced myself. The two of you are too busy talking about him like he isn't there. I mean really…are Dawn and I the only ones with any manners?" The girl who he assumed was Dawn smiled sheepishly and raised a hand in greeting.

"Hey, who's the one that killed the Ariados? Another two minutes with them and he wouldn't be looking quite as pretty," Ash responded. His eyes shifted to Aden. "Why didn't you have your Pokémon out anyway? Do you have a death wish?"

"We're fictional to him. Remember, Ash? Fic. Tion. Al. The kid doesn't know any better," Brock retorted.

"If he knows what a Pokémon is, he knows how a Poké ball works. And who are you calling kid? He's at least my age."

"Seventeen isn't much older than a kid."

"Says the 21-year-old. Stop being sore because you're old."

"Old? _I'm _old?" Brock let out an exasperated sigh.

"There you go again, pretending he can't hear you. He's right here, talk to_ him_!" Misty shouted.

Aden put a hand over his face. Confused, he was so confused.

"Thanks for the save Ash, but I'm gonna go check into the asylum now," he called to the trio, who had changed topics and were now heatedly debating whether or not a Rapidash could outrun a Zebstrika. A cool hand caught his forearm as he started to turn. Dawn looked at him with soft eyes.

"Do you really think you're dreaming?" She said softly.

"Dreaming? No, I already ruled that out. More like high out of my mind. "

"You're not, you know. Here, I'll prove it." Dawn closed her eyes, as if concentrating. "It's ok, Togekiss, you can come out." She smiled fully, showing even white teeth. It was a pleasant smile that erased the severity of her natural expression. The wind seemed to pick up, lightly pushing back the bangs along her forehead. "Don't worry, she's gentle."

In the canopy of one of the impossibly large oaks, the leaves rustled as a huge white bird descended. Aden tensed as the creature neared them, flapping silent wings to slow its fall. It landed softly before them. The taloned, flesh-colored feet made no sound as they met the forest floor. Aden looked up in awe into the circular face with the forward facing yellow orbs that were its eyes and the comparatively small, peach beak. Despite its size, the beak was clearly sharp, and not to be trifled with. It was an owl, he realized. A very large owl that stood at least a foot and a half taller than Dawn and more than twice as wide. A ornate crown of feathers adorned its head, alternating between what appeared to be red and blue. Scarlet and blue feathers were also interspersed among the downy white of its chest. Aden's hand gravitated toward the animal, but he paused when the eyes fixated on him.

"It's ok," Dawn said. "She'll let you." He touched the bird's chest. It was unimaginably soft and fluffy as a down pillow. It leaned its beach ball sized head toward him and he rubbed behind the long crown feathers. The owl shut its eyes and cooed softly, like an overgrown pigeon. It smelled earthy, lightly of pine sap and leaf litter. He smiled.

"She's beautiful," he breathed. A Togekiss? He knew what a Togepi and a Togetic were, but he hadn't followed Pokémon long enough to have heard of a Togekiss. The owl also bore very little resemblance to the egg shaped Togepi. He supposed that, having been an egg, it could evolve into some kind of bird, so why not an owl? His mind put the pieces together. If he had never heard the name Togekiss, and the animal before him didn't look like any Pokémon he knew of, it meant that he had no basis from which to conjure up the creature's name or appearance in his head, which could mean only one thing.

"Pokémon are actually real." He laughed, barely believing the words had come out of his mouth.

But they rang true.


	4. Reveal

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"I see it in your eyes. You believe now," Dawn said, the smile back on her face.

"Look at that. Dawn called down the Togekiss, and he's all smiles," Ash called.

"What do you expect? She's irresistible," Dawn said. The owl nuzzled her affectionately. "Plus, he doesn't think he's dreaming anymore, and I don't think he'll bolt on us now. Will you Aden?"

"I don't plan on becoming lunch for another mutant bug, so no," he responded. She was right; he wasn't about to go anywhere. Now that he knew that he wasn't in a strange drug induced hallucination, his rationality had returned, and he was much safer with these people and their Pokémon. He didn't want to know what the real life counterparts of some Pokémon looked like. But if they were anything like Ariados, he'd rather not run into them defenseless.

"Well now that he's seen Togekiss, can the other Pokemon stop hiding now? Pikachu is getting restless. He hates being away from the action," Ash chimed in.

Misty studied Aden's face. "I'd say he looks calm enough. But does Kabutops _really_ have to come out, Brock? He's hideous."

"What do you expect him to do, hide in the trees? That's harsh Misty. You're gonna hurt his feelings."

"He knows he's ugly."

"Since when was keeping Pokémon a beauty contest anyway? He's functional, and he's no use to anyone if he's not close enough to defend us."

"I'm just saying, he might be too much for Aden—"

"I'm fine," Aden interrupted. "Really. As long as he isn't going to try and eat me, I'll be ok." He wasn't sure about that, but he wasn't about to keep the group away from their Pokémon because he was afraid. He didn't know how long it would be before he got home, so if he was going to be traveling with them, he needed to get used to seeing their Pokémon companions. And of course, he had a sense of pride; he refused to labeled a coward.

"See? He can handle it," Brock said. "And don't worry, Kabutops don't eat their prey, they're vampiric, and they prefer smaller animals." _Lovely_, Aden thought. "Alright everyone, you can come out."

Aden expected the trainers to pull out Poké balls, but the Pokémon emerged from the shadows behind them. A spark drew his attention to the ground as a large rodent like Pokémon came to sit by Ash's heels. Its face resembled a mix of a rabbit and a pika, with inquisitive black eyes and fine white whiskers. Its ears were large and bat-like, and it had a circular, yellow patch of fur on each cheek, which sparked intermittently. The body was like that of a large mouse, though the hindfeet were significantly longer than the more delicate forepaws, allowing it to sit upright. Sitting up, the top of its head reached Ash's mid thigh. The fur was a brindled mix of dark brown and rust orange, darkening to near black on the ears and feet, though its belly was covered entirely in white fur. It waved a long, whip-like tail that ended in a wide, lightning bolt shape that glowed yellow in the darkness. Ash had mentioned a Pikachu, but Aden knew what a Pikachu looked like, and this was not it.

"Wait…isn't that a Raichu?" He could have sworn the animal narrowed its eyes at him at the word. Ash put a hand behind his head, as if embarrassed.

"Ehh..that's a sensitive topic. He still wants to be called Pikachu," Ash said. If his memory of the anime was correct, Ash's Pikachu refused to evolve on multiple occasions. And the fact that he still wanted to be called Pikachu, even _after _evolving, told him that it was not a decision Pikachu was happy with. Aden's curiosity got the best of him…he had to ask.

"Then…why did he evolve?" The Raichu's tail sparked brightly in response, as if in warning. Aden backed up; he didn't imagine being electrocuted would be particularly pleasant.

"There was no other choice," Ash said with grim finality, in a tone that told Aden the topic was closed. He let it go, but the question still lingered.

Aden was so focused on the Raichu that he barely noticed the large blue duck that stood at Misty's shoulder height. At least, the face was duck like, but its body was like a cross between a human and a velociraptor. The feet and hands were webbed, with white claws on the digits. It was slightly hunched over, like a dinosaur, with a long, thick tail for balance. The blue feathers hugged its body so closely that it looked sleek and smooth, unlike the fluffy Togekiss that still stood near him. A small red jewel was set into its forehead, and the back of its skull ended in four hard, pointed projections that made it appear as if it were wearing a crown. He subconsciously identified it.

Aden pointed at the creature. "A Golduck, right?" he asked. Misty nodded.

Brock smiled at him. "Hey, he's pretty good. You know more than I thought."

"It's the Pokémon cards. I collected them when I was kid. The images on the cards were cartoons, but they look like simplified versions of the real thing," Aden explained.

Brock rubbed his chin. "Interesting. Let's pick up on this conversation later; I want to see how much you know. Ready for Kabutops?"

Before Aden could nod, a brown bug like creature came to stand next to Brook. Aden winced inwardly. Misty was right; it really was ugly. It was about the same height as the Golduck and stood on two legs; each foot had two claws. Its entire body was armored by plates of a brown exoskeleton. The forearms were short and narrow, but ended in two long, wicked looking scythes that nearly grazed the floor. But what really drew Aden's attention was the grotesque looking head, which was flattened and roughly triangular, though the two back corners extended into points. The flat head was somewhat reminiscent of a hammerhead shark, though the two beady black eyes were fairly close together on the wide face. The mouth however, reminded Aden of a deep sea fish that should never see the light of day. It gaped open, revealing long needle like teeth that Aden could do little more than stare at. It made the Ariados mouthparts look pleasant by comparison.

Then the Charizard sidled out into the open. Now that he had seen it once, its entry didn't startle him quite as much. And now that he knew it wasn't about to eat him, he had the chance to look at it more closely, and it took his breath away. The orange lizard walked on all fours, contrary to what he had been led to believe. He would have said that it resembled a komodo dragon at first glance, but the comparison would have done the dragon a great injustice. The legs were much longer than a komodo dragon's and oriented directly beneath its body rather than splayed out to the side. As a consequence, the Charizard did not have the clumsy, side-to-side gait of a crocodile or a komodo dragon. It moved smoothly, with the grace of a predatory cat, on lean-muscled, powerful legs that ended in five clawed feet with long, dexterous digits. Its tail was held low, though the tip, which had a flame burning at the end, was held upright. Aden wondered if it was by nature or habit that it held its tail this way, since setting things ablaze everywhere it went was probably something it wanted to avoid. No modern day reptile had the beautiful, leathery wings that were folded at the Charizard's side. The skin between the elongated digits of its wings was some shade of blue green that Aden couldn't identify. And atop a long slender neck was a regal, reptilian head with a narrow snout. Two gently curving, white horns sprouted from the back of its head. The eyes were fierce and intelligent. It was easily as long as an African elephant from head to tail, and probably just as tall when it raised its head to its full height. In total, the creature was majestic, something out of a fairy tale. Aden could scarcely believe what he was seeing. He stepped closer to it, and the Charizard bent its head toward him so that he was staring into one of its reptilian eyes, which looked black in the darkness.

"Thank you, Ash, and Charizard, for saving me," he managed to say in the midst of his ogling. In unison both Ash and Charizard nodded. Clearly, the creature had perfect comprehension of English.

Aden's brow furrowed as he looked from one Pokémon to the next. "I still don't understand though. How? Where did the Pokémon come from? How could they stay hidden all this time without anyone knowing about them?"

Brock made a face. "You still don't understand completely. The Pokémon were never hiding. You aren't in your hometown. You're not even in the same dimension, for that matter." His mind screeched to a halt.

"So…you're telling me that not only are Pokémon real, but I'm in another dimension?" His head spun. _Excellent_, _this day keeps getting better._ "But..how?"

"You haven't heard the half of it," Ash interjected. "But since this conversation could take all night, can we get to the plains and set up camp? This could take all night, and I swear I heard a Seviper slithering around." The group nodded in ascension.

The group was on the move a few minutes later. Aden had no idea how Ash and Brock knew which direction to go, but he followed their lead, trailing them from a few yards back. Charizard had taken to the sky; the woods were too dense and cumbersome for the oversized reptile to navigate easily. Misty and her Golduck pace slightly ahead of him, while Dawn and Aden brought up the rear. Brock and Ash had fallen into playful bantering once more. Questions rolled around in his head like marbles, which only gave rise to further questions. Ash had made it clear that they would be addressed whenever they reached wherever this plain was, but he could barely contain himself. He ventured to ask Dawn what he thought was a simple question. His curiosity was killing him.

"Why don't you keep your Pokémon in Poké balls?" he asked of her. He could understand the Raichu, which never left Ash's side and seemed to have an aversion to the containment of Poke balls, but why should the Charizard have to fly around following them? Wouldn't it be easier to keep it in a compact capsule? The same applied to the Togekiss, which was also fairly large and was flying from branch to branch above them. And the Golduck, with its clumsy walk, hardly seemed suited to bumbling around in the forest.

Her expressive eyes caught his. She looked at him for a long moment, as if considering the answer. "For the same reason that Ash's Pikachu evolved: we don't have a choice."

Aden glanced at her quizzically. "What is that supposed to mean?"

She sighed. "Think about it, Aden. It makes so much more sense to keep all of our Pokémon inside their Poké balls. Inside a Poké ball, Pokémon are in a state of suspended animation. They can go as long as six months without eating or drinking. Outside them, their basic biological needs have to be met just like ours do, so it's a harder to travel when there are more mouths to feed. But things have changed. It's too dangerous to travel without at least one Pokémon by our side."

"And Pikachu? Pikachu didn't want to evolve, as you probably guessed, so it makes sense that it would stay a Pikachu. But Pikachu was too weak to withstand the threats we face now. Raichus are larger and more powerful. He evolved to protect himself and to better defend Ash. The same happened with Misty's Psyduck and my Piplup."

Now Aden's curiosity was burning. He didn't expect a real Pokémon dimension to be all rainbows and butterflies, but he also didn't expect it to be as dangerous as Dawn was implying. But from what she described, it was clear that it wasn't always this way. At one point it was safe enough to travel with your Pokémon secured in Poké balls, and at one point Ash's Pikachu had no pressure to change what he was.

"What changed?"

Dawn's eyes seemed tired, as if they were carrying a great weight. The happiness he had seen on her face not too long ago had all but evaporated. "Everything."


	5. Holes

**Note: Any feedback is welcome and appreciated **

About half an hour later, the dense forest suddenly opened up and the trainers and their Pokémon spilled out onto the massive plain that stretched for miles around. The elevation rose and fell slightly, liking rolling waves. The unearthly white glow of the wild grass under the light of the moon only contributed to the illusion of a stagnant ocean. The sudden openness was jarring to Aden. He had never seen so much open space in his entire life, having spent life hemmed in by towering constructs of glass and steel.

A group of about fifteen deer grazed nearby. At the sound of the approaching group they raised their heads, and Aden marveled at the males, whose antlers had autumn leaves growing from them, making it appear as if a small tree was sprouting from their heads. The males shook their heads and snorted, pawing at the ground with their hooves. He hadn't seen deer too many times in his life, but Aden gathered enough to determine the behavior was aggressive. A breeze ruffled Aden's relatively short hair as Ash's Charizard landed lightly on its long limbs. It raised its head and spewed a stream of flame from its maw. The deer, looking alarmed, turned tail and ran in the direction of the forest. Charizard's tail swished, the blazing tip producing a bright streak in its wake, apparently satisfied with itself.

"We should be ok here. Far enough from the forest, and other than the Sawsbucks there doesn't seem to be too much activity," Brock announced. "Let's set up camp. Everyone back up." He reached into his pack and pulled out a Poké ball. Aden followed the other trainers' lead as they gave Brock a wide berth. Brock tossed the ball into the circle they made. The ball opened in midair with a loud pop and a stream blinding white light emerged from it. Aden shielded his eyes as the white light took on an enormous shape and then faded entirely, revealing the massive Pokémon that towered over him, far larger than the Charizard, probably about as long as two school buses. It didn't look exactly like its cartoon depiction, but it was still instantly recognizable as an Onix. If it weren't for the brontosaurus-like head, it would have looked like a string of large boulders held together by some unseen force, which got progressively smaller toward the tail. The smallest segment was maybe as large as a beach ball but no more. It had small black, eyes that blinked slowly at him, with an expression similar to that of a cow. At least, they were small relative to the size of its head. It eyed him curiously.

"This is Aden," Brock said to the Onix. "He's gonna be with us for a while." _A while? How long was a while? _He felt like they knew a lot more about why he was here. In fact, Aden knew that they had been specifically _looking _for him, with their enigmatic references to things he didn't understand. _'So you're the one he chose?' _Misty had said. Aden had had no idea what that meant. All he knew was that he better have his questions answered, and soon.

The Onix bowed its head, which was the only segment of its body that wasn't boulder shaped, but rather roughly had the shape of a lizard or herbivorous dinosaur. The head was crowned by a blunt-edged, backward facing horn. Aden looked into its face. Its mouth gaped slightly; the breath stank of decaying plants. Though he was taken aback by the smell, the inside of its mouth surprised Aden. It looked like the mouth of any other animal he had seen: covered with soft, pink tissue. A large, wet tongue took up most of the space, but Aden could also see white, flat teeth in its upper and lower jaws, the telltale sign of a large herbivore. Despite its hard, inorganic seeming exterior, the inside of the Pokémon was every bit as organic and vulnerable as any animal's. _Amazing, _he thought.

Apparently done with its inspection of Aden, the Onix laid down, kicking up dust as it did so, forming a circle around the trainers and their Pokémon and forming a small enclosed area. _It's acting as a barricade_, Aden realized. They were surrounded by a wall of living rock, the likes of which anything would probably be hesitant to approach.

"Onix acts as a sentinel. He sleeps around us when we settle for the night. Usually he works pretty well, but we always keep Charizard, Togekiss, Pikachu, and Kabutops around too for good measure," Brock said, confirming the conclusion I had come to. Misty had returned her Golduck to its Poké ball, apparently because it was getting dehydrated.

A thump nearby startled Aden. Several logs that had fallen in a pile near him, and Togekiss landed silently next to them. Had it not been for the logs, he would have never heard the giant owl coming. He imagined it was an excellent hunter.

"Good job, Togekiss!" Dawn praised. She reached up to rub behind its red and blue crown feathers. Togekiss narrowed its eyes and cooed with pleasure. Aden smiled. The bond between Dawn and her Pokémon was clearly strong. She kindly asked the Pokémon to retrieve some more wood. Without a sound, the Togekiss unfurled its wings and was airborne.

The trainers gathered around the logs. Ash rearranged them so that they lay over one another, then called to his Charizard.

"Mind giving us a light here?" The dragon sauntered over and touched the tip of its tail to the wood. The flame caught, hot and bright, eagerly devouring the dry wood. The branches popped and crackled as the flame ebbed its way into the meal it had been offered. Aden inched toward it eagerly, welcoming the heat on his cold limbs. He joined the others as they settled around it. The Charizard and Kabutops hung back, closer to the perimeter of the rock circle, while the Raichu settled right next to Ash, his whiskers quivering as he scented pungent smoke. As Dawn's face came into the glow of the flames, he was startled to find that her dark hair was actually a deep navy blue, not black as he had first thought. Her eyebrows and lashes had the same unusual coloring, framing a set of beautiful sky blue eyes. In his experience, girls with strange hair colors walked around with several piercings and a permanent scowl, trying to rebel against a society eager to judge them. But that description didn't fit Dawn, at least from what he knew of her. The coloring didn't look like a bad dye job, and last time he checked, people didn't dye their eyelashes. He concluded that, strange as it was, the color was natural.

"So, now that I've nearly died, introduced to animals that shouldn't exist, and then told that I'm in another dimension…I'm ready for some explanations, if you don't mind. All of you seem to know a lot more than I do about my situation, and I'm kind of tired of being out of the loop." He probably sounded a bitter, but he was tired, cold, hungry, and unimaginably confused. Now that he had sat down, all those unpleasant sensations hit him at once. It was enough to put anyone on edge.

Brock exhaled dramatically. "I guess we have to get through this sooner or later. First of all, sorry we didn't answer your questions immediately. This is all crazy; I'm surprised you haven't run away screaming yet."

"He almost did," Ash snickered. "Or at least after he realized he wasn't going to be an Ariados snack." Misty hit him in the back of the head, hard.

"Ow! Jeez, Misty what was that for?" He rubbed his head.

"Stop being a jerk," she scolded, then smiled sweetly at Brock. "You can continue now." Ash glared at her in silence.

"Anyway, we should have covered everything as soon as we found you, but we didn't think you'd get dropped in Weedle Woods. Jiro said you were on track for Ponyta Plains, which is where we are now — don't smirk at me like that, I didn't make up the names of these places—but I guess the hole must have shifted. They're getting more unpredictable all the time—"

"Back up," Aden interrupted. "When you say Jiro, are you referring to Jiro Okamoto, the old Japanese man that pushed me down a flight of stairs?"

Ash burst out laughing, despite Misty's ice cold glance. "Sorry Misty, but you can't say that's not even a _little _funny. A flight of stairs? Man, he must have resorting to drastic measures to get you into the hole. Who knew he had it in him?" Brock continued as if he hadn't heard Ash's outburst.

"It wasn't pleasant, that's for sure. My head's still throbbing."

"Yeah, that's the guy. I guess you must have figured out that he's not really the owner of a comic book store. The whole store is actually just an illusion created by his Espeon to conceal the hole…"

"Woah, wait a minute." _An illusion? _Aden had physically held a comic book in his hands. He was _reading_ it, for God's sake. How could it have been an illusion? "Okamoto Comics & Games has been around since I was a kid—"

"Has it, Aden?" Brock said. "When do you remember going in there, before today? When do you remember _anyone _going inside?"

"Well, I've never been in there before. I don't know anyone that's been there either, but we all _know _it's there. But, Brock, I was reading comics in there. There were cards, shelves of merchandise, how could that be just _not real_?"

"The mind is a powerful thing, Aden. It can create simulations involving all five of your senses. Like a dream, but more realistic. All it takes is a push, a little manipulation, and you won't be able to tell the difference between what's real and what isn't. Espeon is a psychic type Pokémon, and more powerful than others of its species. She created the illusion of the store and everything in it, using the memories of people around it to make it convincing. Have you ever wondered why no one goes inside? Espeon keeps them away. They see the illusion, then move on. She can do the opposite too. She can manipulate people to enter, and she chose you."

The white cat's dual colored eyes stared at him in his mind's eye. Piercing eyes, too intelligent for a cat. And then as he fell…the glimpse he saw of a pink furred feline with a two pronged tail. He'd forgotten about that, but it definitely fit the description of an Espeon. _That damn cat._ He hated it even more now that he knew it had been in his head, without his knowledge. He felt violated.

"So I was mind-controlled into entering an imaginary comic store by an Espeon, where I was then pushed down the stairs by a deceiving elderly man and into some kind of hole. A hole which landed me here, in an alternate dimension where the Pokémon I thought to exist as anime and trading cards are in fact real, and I'm surrounded by the very characters in said anime. Am I getting this so far?"

"Hold up, I'm a character in a cartoon in your dimension? Sweet!" Ash interrupted.

"Do you ever shut up, Ash?"

"Don't ask questions you know the answer to, Mist," he winked. She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, that about sums it up," Brock chuckled. "Sounds more ridiculous when you put it that way. Unfortunately it gets weirder, so hang on to your seat."

"Terrific. Let's start with this though. Explain the "hole" and who Okamoto actually is." Aden mind was still overwhelmed with all this new information, but he was getting the answers he wanted now, and he wasn't going to stop now that the trainers were being open with him.

"Alright. Jiro Okamoto is a research physicist, from our dimension. He was investigating the idea of alternate dimensions. Certain Pokémon—I'll get to that later—are known to live in their own dimension. So he believed, correctly I might add, that if there were Pokémon in other dimensions, there could be dimensions where Pokémon don't exist at all. The models he created theorized that there _were _other dimensions besides the ones we knew of already. But like most alternate dimensions, there are barriers between them that prevent crossing. Then the Breach happened. The Breach is the term we use for the breakdown of the barriers between our world and yours, which started about five years ago. Jiro just happened to be studying the right thing at the right time. He noticed the first weakness, and he and his Espeon tracked down the first "hole" in the interdimensional barrier. Obviously they ended up in your world, a world without Pokémon, but still fundamentally linked to ours since you know _of _Pokémon and our world, but it's something out of fiction. Which I still find absolutely fascinating."

"Yeah, yeah, Brock, move on. Go be Jiro's protégé why don't you; I'm sure he'd love it."

"You're lucky I don't have time to come up with a witty comeback right now, Ash." Returning his attention to me, he continued. "Espeon was able to gather enough information from the minds of the people to determine that yours was one of those dimensions he theorized to exist: a dimension without Pokémon. So they set up the illusion of the store, to cover up the hole in the interdimensional barrier and prevent anyone from unintentionally stumbling through it. Traveling between the two dimensions, he continued to study the weakness. And he discovered a problem. More holes were popping up, some as small as a pinprick, others larger. His machinery picked up some of the holes, but he found that Espeon could find ones that he couldn't. Further study indicated that psychic and electric type Pokémon were uniquely sensitive to the weaknesses in the time space continuum where the holes were located, presumably because the psychic types are attuned to a lot of things we're only beginning to understand, and because the electric types are sensitive to the energy changes produced at the holes. Jiro called those types Seekers, and started to use them to find the weaknesses and record their locations."

Aden's brow furrowed, trying to get a grasp on Brock's story. "What's causing the holes? And how did you find out about all this?"

Ash raised his hand, as if in a classroom. "Professor Brock, can I interrupt here? I think I know this answer." Aden expected Brock to be irritated, but he seemed to contain himself, for now.

"Go for it. You're gonna do it anyway whether I give you permission or not," he said grudgingly.

"Ok, Aden, it's quiz time. Do you know anything about a Pokémon named Arceus?"


	6. The Life Plate Legion

"Hmm..." Aden wracked his brain for a second. "Nope, sorry, I stopped following Pokémon shortly after Generation III." Judging by the blank looks on their faces, they had no idea what he was talking about. Oh well, he tried. "No, never heard of an Arceus. I'm guessing you're about to tell me?"

Ash inched closer to the fire, the flame playing in his light brown eyes, which were several shades lighter than Aden's. The light also highlighted the pale pink skin of his facial scar. He seemed eager to speak, now that he wasn't being scolded for doing so. He propped one of his elbows on his knee.

"Not _an _Arceus. The Arceus. According to the legend, Arceus shaped the universe with its 1,000 arms. It's an exaggeration, obviously. Arceus doesn't even have arms. But anyway, the point is that Arceus is basically the God of our world, the creator of the Pokémon and people here."

"Pff. Really? Sounds kind of hokey if you ask me." Aden had never been the religious type. The idea of a God always sounded hopelessly idealistic, something for people to shove their problems onto and find meaning in a world that was ultimately cruel and violent. To him, it was an excuse to ignore the problems in the world in the hope that something better that came after.

"He's serious, Aden." It was the first time Dawn had spoken since their conversation in the forest. Her voice was always soft and solemn. "Ash saved Arceus' life once, a few years back. I was there. Brock, too. We've seen him with our own eyes **(1)**." Brock nodded in affirmation. That intrigued Aden. If Dawn was telling the truth, then Arceus was a God that was not only physically present, but somewhat mortal, if he could be saved. He held his tongue then, interested in what more Ash had to say about this God Pokémon, and how that related to the holes.

Ash blushed. "Thanks, Dawn. It was nothing, though. I did what anyone else would have. But back to Arceus' story. He created the universe we know, and then created the Creation Trio: Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina, the keepers of time, space, and antimatter." Again, the names of the Pokémon didn't ring a bell in Aden's mind. He would have killed for access to Google right about then.

"Together, the Creation Trio and Arceus kept the world in balance. They each exist in separate dimensions, which are the dimensions Jiro was studying before he thought there might be more dimensions in addition to those, like yours," Ash continued.

"But what we didn't know for a long time, is that there is a fifth Pokémon," Brock picked up. "The origin of this Pokémon predates the creation of our universe and the Creation Trio. Jiro thinks he came into existence at the same time as Arceus. We call him Suecra."

"Arceus spelled backwards. Creative right?" Ash chimed in, a smile on his face. Misty looked like he was about to smack him again.

"_Anyway_," Brock said, shooting Ash a pointed look. "We call him Suecra, because he's essentially the counterpart of Arceus. His opposite in every way. Arceus creates life, treasures Pokémon and humans alike and promotes peace. Suecra destroys everything in its path. I guess you could call him the source of evil in this world. I guess it makes sense. If there's a God of creation, I guess there also has to be a God of destruction, right?"

"So he's the Pokémon version of Satan, essentially," Aden said. The trainers looked at him blankly again. He sighed; of course they didn't know about his own dimension's religious lore. "Satan is someone that many people in my dimension believe exists. Supposedly the root of all evil and all that jazz. Sounds a lot like your Suecra, from the description," he explained. Brock took in the information, clearly engrossed.

"I'm finding that there are more similarities between our dimensions than I initially thought," Brock ceded. "Suecra's power has been held in check by Arceus and the Creation Trio, basically since the beginning of time. Obviously, his influence is never completely suppressed, or things would probably be a lot more…serene, I suppose. Then the holes starting appearing, the first one five years ago. One at a time at first, then several, scattered all over."

"Arceus came to me when everyone started noticing there was something wrong," Ash said. The usual humor in his voice had dissipated. "He told me that Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina were dead. They were killed by Suecra, who's been laying relatively dormant all these years, gathering enough strength to pull it off." A silence befell the group. Pikachu's bat-like ears drooped in apparent sadness.

"With the Creation Trio gone, the balance of time, space, and antimatter was lost. Without them to keep those elements in check, the interdimensional barriers started to weaken, causing the holes. More importantly, Suecra is no longer contained without their combined power," Brock finished.

"Which means that we have more problems than just worm holes between dimensions," Misty put in. "Since the death of the Creation Trio, Pokémon are becoming more violent. We're guessing it's because Suecra now has more power over them. Suecra's mind is poisonous to Pokemon. He twists them. The Pokémon that were already dangerous are more deadly. And those that weren't…well they changed pretty fast."

Dawn looked into Aden's eyes, fear written in her features. "The farmers noticed it first. The Miltanks started to get restless and refused to be milked. Unfezants stopped laying eggs and pecked at anyone that got anywhere near them. The first reported death came in about a year after Jiro found the initial hole. A farmer was killed by his flock of Mareep. By the time they got to him, he was half eaten. It's not easy to forget a flock of fluffy grazers with human blood on their muzzles," she said, a haunted look in her eyes. Aden felt bile rise in his throat at the image. This was not how he imagined a world of Pokémon to be. This was sick…horrific even. This was what Dawn was referring to when she said everything had changed. This was a world where Pokémon evolved quickly and trainers adapted just as quickly or risked dying an early death.

"A lot of people died initially, at least until they realized something was very wrong. People started hunkering down with their Pokémon, staying away from the forests and wilderness in general. Everyone is instructed to have a Pokémon out with them at all times, " Misty said. "People have held their own for a while now. By avoiding wild Pokémon, the deaths have been minimized. But still…this is no way to live."

"Why did Arceus come to you, Ash? What was the point of telling you about the Creation Trio's death?" Aden had a feeling their story was leading up to this.

Ash closed his eyes, as if remembering a moment. "He came to me, because Arceus isn't strong enough to handle this problem on his own anymore." He reached into his shirt and pulled out a silver chain that was around its neck. From it dangled a flat, three inch long charm in the shape a coffin. As it caught the firelight, ribbons of purple, silver, blue, and gold that swirled and danced of their own accord on its surface. Aden watched the swirling patterns for a moment, temporarily mesmerized. "This is a Life Plate. It's a part of Arceus himself and contains some of his power. He gave it to me that night, and told me that he needed my—our—help," he gestured to his companions. In turn, Dawn, Misty, and Brock, revealed identical Life Plates that they also wore around their necks.

"Arceus started to give his Life Plates to trainers that he thought were worthy. A divide and conquer strategy. The Plates have the power to close the holes, among other things," Brock elaborated. "Arceus also told us to find Jiro Okamoto, who seems to understand how to find the holes, and had the most knowledge about your dimension from studying it with his Espeon. We've been finding holes and patching them up where we can. It's a temporary solution…since the holes keep cropping up, and the Pokémon aren't getting any less aggressive, but Arceus seems to be waiting for something before he makes his next move."

Aden thought about his response before speaking. Besides the fact that the holes led to his dimension, he couldn't see how this involved him. "This is a lot to take in; I'm sure you guys realize that. And if the holes are getting worse and the Pokémon are as violent as you say, then I'm damn grateful that you guys are around to try and fix it. But…why am I here? Why did you come looking for me? Why bother telling me _any _of this? I'm not a trainer."

Misty rolled her eyes. "Maybe he's not as smart as you seem think he is, Brock. She came over to him and put firm hands on his shoulders. He stared into her sharp green eyes.

"C'mon, Aden! Isn't it obvious? Why do you_ think_ we bothered? Arceus told us he was going to recruit three people from the other side. It's getting too crazy to just monitor things from our end; and we don't know your world. We'd stick out like sore thumbs. He chose you to be one of those people."

Aden feared that might be the answer. He pointed to himself incredulously. "M-me? But why? What makes you think I'd be of any use? I was almost spider food not too long ago."

"Don't think about it too much. Arceus has his reasons. He always does. Point is," Ash came over now and pressed something warm into his palm. A Life Plate, dangling from a silver chain, sat in his open hand. "Arceus wanted you to have this. And he's asking for your help. So…what do you say?"

Aden rubbed the lump in the back of his head again, and all the fear and confusion of the past few hours welled up in his mind. "Arceus has a funny way of _asking._"

"Let me put it this way. If someone on the street came up to you, and told you all of this, would you have believed a single word they said?" Misty inquired, an amused smile on her face. She had backed off, but still sat relatively close to him. _Hell no_ _I wouldn't have_, he thought in response. The light bulb came on then. Misty had a point. This really was the only way for him to believe that everything that just happened wasn't a product of his imagination.

"Point taken." Aden exhaled, feeling like what he said next was going to change…well everything, to quote Dawn. He closed his hand around the Life Plate. "I guess the answer is yes." The group seemed to visibly relax.

Aden didn't know why he had said yes to something that sounded so ridiculous, not to mention excessively dangerous. But his answer felt right. Like this was something he had to do. He wasn't particularly brave or strong, that was for sure, and up until this point he had led a life of exceeding mediocrity. But if some God from a Pokémon dimension wanted him, of all people…he couldn't just dismiss it. People in his dimension talked about signs from God. He supposed divine signs didn't get any clearer than an outright request.

Ash grinned broadly. "In that case, welcome to the Life Plate Legion, American division," he said.

"American division? How many of these Legions are there?" Aden asked.

"One Life Plate Legion, three divisions," Misty said, holding up three fingers. "American, European, and Asian, the three regions where the holes are appearing. Five trainers to a division, with one othersider in each. The other two from your dimension have already been with their divisions for a few months now. You're the last, the final member."

"Fifteen trainers...for two entire dimensions?" Aden said incredulously. His head swam.

"Arceus only has sixteen Life Plates. He gave one to each trainer, and he has to keep one for himself. They are his life source, after all," Brock answered. "It sounds overwhelming, and the number of holes that are appearing is greater than before, but nothing we haven't been able to handle so far. Jiro suspects it's going to get worse though. I have to agree with him. The holes are bigger than they used to be, and the Pokémon aren't getting any friendlier."

"Ah…well that's all well and good. There's one problem though. I'm not a trainer, like I said."

"Aden…we know Jiro can be forgetful, but we know he wouldn't be careless enough to send you out here without a Pokémon. You came here with a Poké ball, didn't you?" Brock asked.

_Well shit…forgot about that. _The look of realization that hit his face made Misty laugh. "It completely slipped his mind, apparently," she said.

"So you've been walking around here with a Poké ball the whole time, and never thought to see what was inside?" Ash said.

"Give me a break; I thought it was a toy. I was still trying to figure out how I got here and how I was going to get out of the forest alive."

"Well, what's your excuse now? Let's see it, Aden!" Ash demanded. His excitement was infectious. Aden went into his bag and found the little metal sphere. It was still warm, and now that he knew it was real, it made sense; a live Pokémon and all its energy was somehow contained inside. And to think he had contemplated throwing it into the bushes.

Aden pushed the silver button in the center and the ball immediately expanded, growing to the size of a baseball. Imitating Brock, he stood, brought his arm back, and threw the ball into the center of their clearing.

**(1) Note: Dawn refers to events in the Pokémon movie Arceus and the Jewel of Life.**


	7. Bond

**Note: Feel free to offer any feedback or criticism. Enjoy!**

The Poké ball burst and the white beam of light streamed from it. The light condensed around a fairly small shape, then vanished as it had with Onix. The Pokémon that stood before him was not impressive in terms of size, like the Onix, nor was it majestic like Ash's Charizard. And it didn't need to be. To Aden, it was perfect.

The body form was clearly canine, but not exactly wolf-like. It was not as large as a wolf, but closer to a medium sized dog. The proportions were also wrong for a wolf. The Pokémon was more lean-muscled, with longer legs and a narrow snout, like a coyote. The ears were upright, but much too large for its head, reminiscent of a fennec fox. The tail was short, almost nonexistent, and covered with an abundance of bushy fur.

But these were all secondary observations. The first thing that caught his attention was that the animal was yellow, an impossible sunflower yellow that made golden retrievers unworthy of the name. A ruff of white fur surrounded its neck like a collar. The fur was medium length on the body and short on the legs and head, which would have been otherwise unremarkable had it not stood straight on end, clustering into spike like formations, especially around the bushy tail. The Pokémon glowed bright enough to rival the fire, not simply because of its color, but because of the sparks of blue-white electricity that danced among the spikes of its fur. It shook itself, as if it were wet, and turned its head to Aden. Its black eyes glistened, intelligent and cunning, as it examined him.

"A Jolteon," Aden said, when he found his voice again. He was glad it was a Pokémon he was familiar with. "Wow he's…stunning." The Jolteon looked wary as it eyed the trainers that peered at him, sparks jumping from its fur. It occurred to Aden that he didn't know _how_ he knew the Pokémon was male…but somehow he knew with absolute certainty.

"Didn't know Jiro had a Jolteon in his inventory. Must be a new acquisition. Glad he gave you a Seeker though. We need more of those," Brock said.

"Seeker? Oh, right, electric and psychic types. Good at finding holes," Aden remembered, not taking his eyes off the Jolteon.

"See? You're catching on. Electric types aren't exactly common, and Pokémon are a hell of a lot harder to catch now, if not impossible, so we're short-handed when it comes to Seekers. Misty's Starmie is a psychic type, but he's pretty much useless for moving around on land. Rai—I mean Pikachu has been our main Seeker. Does a good job, too." Brock patted the Raichu's head; it made a contented squeaking noise in response. Aden was infinitely glad that Pokémon didn't repeatedly state their own names in real life. That never made much sense to him when he watched the anime. After all, he didn't call dogs "Barks" or cows "Moos," so why should Pokémon be named that way?

"Looks like a nice specimen. Healthy. Mind if I take a look at him, Aden?"

Misty's lip turned up in disgust. "You make it sound like you want to examine the poor thing's insides."

He shrugged. "You know me. If things ever get back to normal, I'd like to become a Pokémon breeder, like I was trying to do before the world went haywire." Brock squat down to the Jolteon's eye level, and reached his hand out. Aden felt an unexplained flash of anger, dissipating as quickly as it had appeared. The Pokémon's head whipped around; its body stiffened.

"Brock, don't!" Aden warned. The Jolteon growled and lunged forward, clamping around Brock's hand. Brock yelled, then went into convulsions as electricity coursed through him. His eyes rolled back in his head. Pikachu let out a squeak of surprise, the Charizard jumped to its feet, and the Onix reared up, shaking the earth. "No! Stop!" he yelled at the Jolteon, command in his tone. The Jolteon glanced at him, seemingly at war with itself, and in a moment that seemed like forever, it released Brock's hand. Brock crumpled to the ground, motionless.

The trainers surrounded him, concern written in their features. The Onix brought its massive head down to Brock's level, nudging his limp body. Dawn pushed the rocky head aside. It moaned, a deep rumbling sound. "Get out of the way, Onix. Let me work." She pressed two fingers to the dark skin of his throat, feeling for his carotid artery.

"He has a pulse. Quick, someone get the Parlyz Heal and a Potion from my pack, and hurry," Dawn said. Misty retrieved two small bottles, like tiny aerosol cans, and handed them to Dawn. She shook the first can, a gold and white one, then pried Brock's mouth open and sprayed the contents of the bottle inside. A few tense moments passed, then Brock coughed, his chest shaking. Misty seemed to let out a breath she was holding.

"Thank god," she exhaled. "He's breathing."

"Are you with me Brock?" Dawn said in her firm but soft voice. His eyes fluttered, he gave a weak nod. "Can you move?" Brock's hands clenched. He gritted his teeth.

"Not…well. But yes," he said weakly.

"Good, the Parlyz Heal is working. Should take full effect soon. Open your mouth for me, you need Potion." He waved Dawn's hand away.

"Don't. We don't have a lot left. I'll be ok."

"Brock, don't be stupid. We'll find a way to get more. Open your damn mouth," Misty said. Brock gave up then, and Dawn sprayed the aerosol from a purple and white can. He relaxed almost instantaneously. The Onix breathed a sigh of relief and settled again, laying its head by its trainer's body.

"Get that Jolteon back in its ball, Aden," Ash said angrily. "There's something wrong with it." The Raichu eyed the Jolteon suspiciously, whipping its long tail, but the Jolteon backed up a few steps and stood in place, shaking its head violently. Aden felt confused. But he had no reason to be confused. Then it occurred to him. _I'm not confused. The Jolteon is. Somehow, I'm feeling its emotions. _

"Jolteon." The glowing dog looked up at him, attentive. Aden approached it, slowly. Ash realized what he was doing.

"What're you crazy? Put it back in its ball!" he shouted. Aden ignored him and inched closer, his eyes locked on the dark pools in the canine's face. His hand got closer to its head. The Jolteon's lips peeled back, showing long white teeth. Flickers of blue electricity jumped between the sharp fangs. Again, Aden felt anger that was not his own course through him, wild and raw. He'd never felt anything like it.

"No," Aden said steadily. The anger in the dog's eyes wavered, and its lips drooped, ever so slightly. He didn't understand what was happening here. Didn't know _why_ he could feel what this Pokémon did. But it had _listened _to him we he told it to let go of Brock. It had no reason to. But maybe it would work again. Ash had lapsed into silence. Dawn and Misty were looking over now as well.

"I said _no._" And he closed the gap. His hand touched the fur on the top of the Jolteon's head…and nothing happened. The fur was stiff and coarse, and the static that came from it made the fine blonde hairs on his arm stand on end. But the Jolteon was still. It didn't break eye contact with Aden, but its face relaxed. The long ears drooped, plastered submissively against its head. Aden felt the confusion again…and then, a twinge of fear. The anger started to well up in the Jolteon's eyes again. "It's ok. No one's going to hurt you."

The eyes calmed. And they stayed that way. The Jolteon whimpered and sat on its haunches. It didn't move from that position.

"Aden…that was amazing," Brock said, his voice back at full strength. He was propped up on one elbow, no longer looking like he was on the brink of death. Whatever medicines they had must be damn near magical if they worked that quickly. "That Jolteon was feral. And now it's…not. I mean _look _at it."

"I don't get it. It's one of Jiro's Pokémon. It should be immune to Suecra's influence," Ash said. Brock shook his head.

"Jiro caught it before Pokemon became almost impossible to deal with, but clearly he didn't do anything with it after that. It was unbonded," Brock said.

"Unbonded? He sent him out here with an _unbonded _Pokemon? He didn't do that with the other two othersiders. He's _lucky _he didn't let that thing out without us around—" Misty started.

"Uh. Mist?" Ash stopped her mid-rant. "Aden calmed it down on his own. The only one it hurt was Brock."

"And on top of that, it's _bonded_," Brock said.

"That's impossible," Dawn said. "No one's been able to form a bond with a Pokémon since the first hole. And it takes _weeks_—"

"Trust me, Dawn, it's bonded. I was going to be a Pokémon breeder, remember? I've studied Pokémon behavior for a while, and I know a bonded Pokémon when I see one," Brock asserted.

"Could have fooled me. If you had read its behavior just a _little _better before, you wouldn't have needed emergency medical attention just now," Misty criticized.

"I wasn't expecting Jiro to send him with an unbonded Pokémon. It must have been the last one he had left. Probably didn't have the time to bond it," Brock defended.

"Then he shouldn't have sent it at all. It was stu—" Misty started.

"Guys? Would you mind including me?" Aden put in. "Bonding? Someone explain?" The group focused on him, as if just noticing he was there.

"It's like taming, but on a deeper level," Brock said. He seemed to be the designated teacher of the group. "You see, Aden, when Pokémon are first caught, they're rebellious and stubborn. To be trainable, a bond has to be formed. The time it takes for that to happen varies from a few weeks to a few years, depending on the Pokémon species."

Ash picked up the explanation. "The "bond" forms in a single moment, and it changes Pokémon. Before the bond, they're more like animals than humans. But after…they can understand human speech, their intelligence increases, and more importantly, they can obey human commands."

"But Aden…after Pokémon started getting violent, no one's been able to form new bonds. Not only did you do just that, but the bond was almost instantaneous. How did you do it?" Dawn said in utter disbelief.

The Jolteon looked at her from its sitting position with its head cocked and its ears pricked forward. Its face was tranquil and alert.

"I-I don't know…" Aden said.


	8. Suecra's Agenda

**Note: Feel free to review ****. Enjoy!**

"Holes, you know anything about those?" Aden asked his Jolteon in the early morning light. _His _Jolteon. He liked the sound of that. Aden lay on his back with his arms cushioning his head staring at the open sky. The Jolteon, which was splayed out next to him, raised its head from its forepaws, looked at him with perfect comprehension, and nodded. It was unsettling how human-like the bonded Pokémon were. Even more unsettling was that somehow, he had caused that change. A group of Pokémon he identified as Pidgeys flew overhead. He tensed for a moment, thinking they were going to dive bomb him, but they continued on their way. Despite the name, they looked nothing like pidgeons. They looked no different than the sparrows he was familiar with, if sparrows were five times their normal size.

"Good. Maybe you can teach _me_ a few things."

After last night's excitement, they had all turned in to sleep. Dawn had insisted they weren't going to figure anything out unless they rested at some point. So for now, the mystery of Aden's connection to the Jolteon remained unsolved. The sunlight had hit Aden's eyelids at an ungodly hour, but honestly, he was too worked up to sleep anyway. Being trapped in a world full of violent super animals would do that to you. Not to mention he was terribly uncomfortable. He groaned and sat up, his back aching. _This is why I never went camping. _It was wholly unpleasant and he would much rather be in his bed. Unfortunately, he was much farther removed from the comforts of home than he liked to think. Nonetheless, he could almost understand what the nature lovers raved about. It _was _pretty out here…at least in short doses. He had spent the last few hours getting acquainted with the Jolteon, which also seemed unable to sleep with any degree of comfort. It couldn't speak, obviously, but he found its body language to be more than sufficient, coupled with the fact that he still seemed attuned to its emotions.

For the moment, it was calm and attentive. Maybe the Jolteon was just as interested in him.

"Since everyone else is still sleeping and you're just lying there, want to help me find some food?" Aden looked up into Dawn's face, who peered down at him with her hands on her hips. He knew she was pretty before, but now that he had sunlight to see by Aden caught himself staring, just a little. Her crystal blue eyes, framed by navy lashes and hair, were truly striking. He noticed she had a smattering of powder blue freckles across the bridge of a small nose and the skin of her bronzed cheeks, tanned by long hours in the sun. Her features should have made her look very young, child-like even. But the firm set of her mouth and an ever present crease between her brows gave her away. This was not a girl, but a young woman who had been hardened far before her time. Aden noticed all four of the trainers were similarly affected by whatever they had experienced prior to his arrival. He could see it in their eyes. But unlike Misty, Ash, and Brock, who joked amongst themselves and laughed off what otherwise seemed to be a fairly grim situation, Dawn rarely seemed to participate in their banter. In fact, the only time he had seen her smile was when she had first greeted him, and when she interacted with her Togekiss.

"Uh, yeah sure," he said after a moment's hesitation. He winced inwardly at his awkwardness. "Where are we headed?" Dawn pointed to the forest they had left behind. Aden swallowed.

"We're going back in _there_?"

"Well, unless you're fond of grass, there's nothing to eat here. Don't worry; Weedle Woods is not as bad during the day."

"That's comforting," Aden retorted, rolling his eyes.

She exhaled, feigning impatience, and grabbed his arm to pull him to his feet. She was stronger than he would have expected from someone with such a small frame.

"Let's go, Jolteon whisperer," she teased.

"Where's your Togekiss?" he asked. He didn't recall seeing the owl for some time.

"She's nocturnal, so I put her back in her ball to rest. I have more than one Pokémon, you know." Dawn showed him the Poké ball in her hand, pushed the silver button, and tossed it. The ball burst, and what appeared to be a giant badger materialized before him. The weasel like head connected to a five foot long stocky body with four short, albeit muscular legs armed with formidable looking claws. Its back and head was sheathed in black, coarse fur, while the underbelly was cream colored. Other than its size, it didn't look much different than the badgers he was familiar with, other than one key characteristic. A strip of bare skin along its back, extending from one shoulder to the other, smoldered like a dying fire.

"Alright, I'm stumped. What is it?"

"Typhlosion, say hi to Aden." _Ah, I see it now, _he thought, making the connection to the cartoon. The Typhlosion reared up on its hind legs, startling Aden, and stared at him face to face. It sniffed and made a gruff noise in its throat, showing sharp white teeth, and returned to all fours to scrutinize the Jolteon. A pang of nervousness shot through Aden as the Typhlosion sniffed the bright yellow dog. Aden assumed it was the Jolteon's nervousness that he felt.

"Not the friendliest Pokémon, is he?" Aden ventured. The Typhlosion bared its teeth at him again. Dawn smirked.

"He's slow to warm up to new people. Shall we go?" Dawn started toward the forest with Typhlosion lumbering beside her. Aden reluctantly followed with Jolteon at his heels.

A short while later, Aden trekked through the brambles, watching as Dawn picked red and blue berries from a bush. The forest was still intimidating, but with shafts of light piercing through the canopy, highlighting the vibrant reds and golds of the autumn leaves, it took on a wild beauty.

"How do you know they're not poisonous?" he inquired. Aden started to wish he had been a boy scout at some point in his life.

"When you're expected to survive on your own as a ten year old trainer strapped for cash, you learn pretty quick," Dawn responded matter of factly. _Ten years old? Jesus. _He couldn't even imagine leaving home when he turned eighteen in a few months, let alone at ten years old. "Want to try and find some fruit? I thought I saw a few apple trees over that way," she said, pointing back in the direction they had come.

"Yeah, no problem," Aden said, eager to be of some use. He was tired of helplessly watching Dawn look for obscure berries that all looked the same to him. But he could identify fruit, at the very least. He picked his away around the thick tree trunks and over exposed roots and shrubs, looking up into the trees. A hint of green caught his eye among the fall foliage. Round, green spheres, fruit the likes of which he had never seen before, dangled from the branches. Hey, they weren't apples, but the smooth skinned fruits looked tasty enough. He reached for one of the lower branches. Suspicion edged its way into its consciousness, and by the way it came on he knew it came from the Jolteon. It growled, flattening its ears against its head. The spikes of its fur stood on end, sparking furiously.

"What's wrong?" And that was when a low tree branch swung of its own accord and hit him square in the chest. Aden flew backwards and slammed into another tree trunk. The air whooshed from his lungs and he gasped, struggling to breathe. The tree leaned toward him, and Aden looked into two irregular shaped black eyes that were nearly indistinguishable from the other knots that dotted its trunk. _Living trees? Oh, this day is shaping up to be just peachy._ Another branch, this one thicker and higher up along the trunk, raised itself to swing. The Jolteon barked angrily. It bristled, and charged needles shot from its fur, embedding themselves in the living tree's bark. It didn't seem to do much harm, but the woody eyes blinked and shifted toward its attacker. It leaned away from Aden and raised a different branch to swing at the Jolteon. The Jolteon leaped nimbly over the branch as it came down, and shot more needles from its fur that seemed to do no more harm than the first barrage. Aden got in a gulp of air, clearing his vision. He got to his feet and dodged another blow as Dawn and her Typhlosion came crashing through the underbrush.

"Oh, for Christ's sake. Call that Jolteon back before it kills itself. Sudowoodo is a ground type; shocking it is only gonna piss it off. Typhlosion, use Flame Wheel!" The smoldering part of the Typhlosion's back erupted into flame, and it charged at the tree, enveloping itself in flame as it did so. It leaped and collided with a branch that aimed at Jolteon's head. The branch cracked with an audible snap and the Sudowoodo shook its remaining branches furiously.

"Let's go, now!" Dawn ordered. Aden followed her, drawing in short breaths, with his Pokémon at his heels.

"Are you _trying _to get yourself killed?" she demanded. Aden threw his hands up in defense.

"Hey, where I come from, trees don't try to bludgeon you to death. I was only looking for fruit, like you asked."

"They didn't happen to be _green spheres_, did they?" Dawn said, narrowing her eyes. _Damn, she got me._

"Well, yeah…but—"

"Apples, Aden. I said _apples_," she said seriously, but Aden caught the hint of a smile playing on her lips. Then she giggled. "I'm sorry…I know this is all new for you. You're like watching a kid. Everyone over the age of eight knows that you never touch those fruit; they're always Sudowoodos. I mean, they never used to attack unless you actually tried to pull a fruit off, but things are different now."

"Aren't Sudowoodos…I don't know, _smaller? _And mobile?" The one that had attached him was nearly identical to the large trees that surrounded it.

"You're thinking about the young Sudowoodos, which do walk around. The old ones eventually come to look like trees, and they root themselves into the ground permanently. How are those ribs feeling?"

"Fine," Aden muttered.

"You're a terrible liar," she noted. "They pack a wallop, don't they?"

He rubbed his chest. "That's an understatement."

"I'll check you out when we get back. With any luck you'll just have some nasty bruising."

"Do you have medical training or something?" Aden wondered "You saved Brock's life last night, and now you seem to be an expert on blunt trauma."

"It's kind of a funny story. When I was little, I always thought I wanted to be a Pokémon trainer. Seemed like a lot of fun. I mean, who doesn't want to go on some grand adventure at that age? So I left home at ten, like most trainers would, and never looked back. A few years out though, after seeing all the people and Pokémon that got hurt in this lifestyle, I got a little turned off. From training and battling that is. But seeing injury and illness kind of fascinated me." She became more animated as she spoke, and for the first time Aden saw her exhibit genuine excitement.

Aden raised an eyebrow. "Didn't think you were that morbid."

"No! That's not what I mean. Let me finish. Yes, I was interested in maladies of the body, but I was more interested in how to cure them. I read a lot of medical books when I came across towns. Learned quite a lot, actually. It's come in handy more times than I can count."

"So why didn't you quit being a trainer? Why not just become a doctor?" Aden inquired. The sadness crept into her face again, and a familiar solemnity settled into her features. She closed her eyes.

"I was going to. But then the first hole appeared. You haven't been to the towns, but society isn't really functioning as it should right now. Resources are becoming scarcer since Pokémon attacks make normal life almost impossible. Farming is extremely difficult with wild Pokémon destroying crops and killing livestock, and it's even harder to keep up with medicine demands with all the injuries. People are scared. So education has kind of fallen by the wayside…I don't think I'll be getting a medical degree anytime soon." Aden's brow furrowed. He felt a deep sympathy Dawn, quickly replaced by anger. People were struggling, dying even, due starvation or illness or both, all because of some Satanic Pokémon's grudge match with some other Pokémon deity.

"Why is Suecra doing this? If he hates Arceus so much, why can't he just go after him? Why does everyone else have to suffer?"

"Isn't it obvious, Aden? It's not Arceus that Suecra has a problem with, not directly anyway. It's us. The humans." Aden was taken aback by that answer.

"The humans? Why?"

"Arceus' greatest gift to us, besides our creation, was the ability for Pokémon and humans to bond. It shaped life as we know it. They help us build our cities, grow our food, protect our citizens. We can't live without them. But to Suecra, the bond between Pokémon and humans is nothing short of slavery. And honestly? I can't say Suecra is completely off base. Some people treat Pokémon horribly. But it's not the majority…not by a long shot," Dawn explained.

"So Suecra's game is to destroy people's ability to bond with Pokémon, as a punishment. But that's obviously going to get Arceus pretty ticked off," Aden summarized.

"Basically, yeah."

But something was bothering Aden. There was a piece of this that didn't quite add up. The twisting of the wild Pokémon minds fit the agenda. But why destroy the Creation Trio? What did Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina have to do with it? Aden stopped in his tracks. Dawn looked back at him quizzically.

"The holes into my dimension aren't coincidental," Aden said.

"What? What are you talking about Aden?"

"I'm talking about the Creation Trio. Suecra killed them, and then the barriers between our worlds destabilized. I don't think it was just to remove any opposition…he _wants _the barriers to break down. Because he wants humans to suffer. All of them. In _every _dimension," he said. It made perfect sense. Dawn gasped, wide-eyed.

"Aden…I think you're right. I don't know why we didn't see it before. He wants a complete human genocide," she said with grim finality.


End file.
